“The Role of Pharmacist in Health-Care System”

Pharmacy play a vital role in health care system through the medicine and information they provide. Pharmacy is a profession that is expanding in new direction to meet the health care needs. One can see movement amongst pharmacist beyond compounding and dispensing of medicines, toward a more professional advisory and primary health care role.

Health is a word very know but it carries a lot of complication and troubles. Health is a state of complete of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely absence of any illness.

Health care system depends upon a health care team is group of community who contribute to a common health goal and common objectives determined by community needs.

It is has been observed that from last few decades, the role of pharmacist has completely changed in the medication department. In older times, dispensing of drug was the main function assigned to pharmacist. With emergence of clinical pharmacist contribution neither begins nor ends when drug are dispensed. He must have a knowledge and understanding of the patients as a whole and must be able to consider present or future drug therapy in terms of patient’s current status, his behavior, the objectives of the therapy and his prognosis. He should also be able to communicate in the appropriateness of drug therapy, benefit risk ratio and be able to suggest regimes.  A complex relation links the patient, his disease and its treatment. The demand for trained pharmacy professionals has dramatically increased in recent years due to the rapid growth of the HEALTH CARE AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES, especially for the growing elderly population. The number of pharmacist in health care services also is escalating as pharmacist become more actively involved in drug therapy decision-making for patients.

Along with dispending a pharmacist is expected to perform a various function like history taking, ward rounds, checking the prescription and dispensing of drug, patient counselling, therapeutic drug monitoring, patient compliance monitory, adverse drug reaction monitory, pharma economics and patient education. Pharmacist also identify the medication error and prevent it.

However, responsibility vary among the different areas of pharmacy practice, the base is that pharmacist help patients get well. And that include range of care for patients, from dispensing medications to monitoring patient health and progress to maximize their response to the medication. They also make understand to patient about use of medicine including over-the-counter medication. Moreover, pharmacist also provide information about the composition of drug , along with its chemical, biological and physical properties. They also ensure drug purity and make sure that it do not interact.

The role of pharmacist in the health care system states that the competence of pharmacist is already proven and control in health promotion and social responsibility, or in drug regulation and control. Or either in formulation and quality control.

Indoor pharmacist responsibilities: a) central dispensing area: To ensure that all drugs are stored, dispensed correctly. To check the accuracy of the dosages prepared especially of intravenous admixtures and unit doses. To keep proper records and preparation of bills. To coordinate the overall pharmaceutical needs of the “patient care’’ areas with the centrally dispensing areas. To communicate with all pharmacy staff regarding new developments in the area and assists in evaluations of employees of his section. b) Patient Care Areas : To maintain a liaison with nurses who are involved in the drugs administration to the patients. Reviewing of drug administration in each patient periodically to ensure that all doses are being administered and charted accordingly. C) Direct patient care areas: Identification of drugs brought in to hospitals by the patients. Obtaining patients medication history and communicating all the information to the attending physicians. To assist in the selection of drug products and their identities. To monitor patient drug therapy for 1.Effectiveness 2.Sideeffects 3.Toxicities 4.Allergic drug reactions 5.Drug interactions etc d) General responsibilities: Pharmacist is expected to provide in service and education for the Pharmacists , Pharmacy students, Nurses, Nursing students, Physicians and Medical students.

Outdoor pharmacists responsibilities : a)The Central Dispensing Area: The pharmacist ensure that proper techniques are used in extemporaneous compounding . Provides for adequate record keeping and billing in respect of patient medication particulars, records of investigational drugs , records of out patient bills for the charges of services and material , furnished by the department. Correctly maintaining the prescription files. Keeps the outdoor pharmacy in a neat and tidy manner. B) Patient Care Area:- To periodically inspect the medication areas on the nursing unit and to make sure that they are always adequately supplied with other articles required. To identify drugs brought in to the clinic by the patient and record the patients medication history. Monitoring of drugs as explained earlier. To counsel the patients on the proper use of their medication and prepare the medication for the intravenous administration. C) General Responsibilities: To co-ordinate overall pharmaceutical needs, of the outdoor service area and exercise adequate control over such drugs. To provide for in service education and training for the pharmacists.

India with the greatest cultural diversity, health through in important issue is being neglected due to many hindrances. The condition is more worsened due to inappropriate drug use problems.it is the hands of the pharmacist particularly the community pharmacist , to take up the challenge for providing better health care. Although, it play key importance in India , pharmacist has no any recognition in health care system as compared to other well established countries.

At the end, pharmacists is the first person of health care system by playing various roles like academic pharmacists, industrial pharmacists, community pharmacists, clinical pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, veterinary pharmacists etc. All pharmacists working in different fields of the profession are directly or indirectly related to nation’s health. Finally pharmacists are responsible for insuring that “Right drug to right patient at right time in right dose through right route in right way”. So that pharmacist is an integral part of health care system.